By the time she was dressed in gray leggings and a large cream-colored sweater with her hair curled and lying over her shoulders, she felt back to normal and almost sent Conner a text to let him know that she’d cook tonight. But then she remembered that Robin had told her that she needed to go into Edgeview for some supplies, so Kara would need to walk to the store to get groceries. One glance out the window confirmed that the rain hadn’t let up since Conner had dropped her off.
Instead, she decided to spend her time baking. Since she had the supplies to make cookies, she got to work mixing the dough as she flipped on the television and listened to an old black-and-white movie. She danced to one of the songs playing on the set.
Her sister walked in just as she was taking the first batch of cookies out of the oven.
“Wow, those smell good,” Robin said, reaching for one. “How’s the leg?” she asked before taking a bite of the hot cookie. She’d texted her sister what had happened before lying down.
“Fine,” Kara answered, then grabbed a cookie for herself. “A little sore, but nothing too bad.” She wiggled her leg and tested it out. “Sore but in working order.”
Robin chuckled. “We can call in our order to the Oar. After driving to pick up all the new chair and table covers, I’m starving. It took all my will not to hit the drive-through while I was in Edgeview.”
“I have the menu pulled up on my iPad.” She motioned to where she’d set her iPad earlier and turned to put another batch of cookies in the oven.
“Who is this?” Robin asked holding up her iPad. An image of Thomas Carson filled the screen.
“That’s the man who stopped by last week and claimed he was a lawyer.” Kara shut the oven and walked over to look at the image over her sister’s shoulder. “He’s the guy the Jordans are having issues with.”
“The land shark?” Robin asked. Kara nodded.
“He stopped by here?” Her sister turned to her.
“Yeah, the night of the Johnson’s anniversary party. I was heading over here to grab a new roll of double-sided tape and bumped into him on the pathway. He claimed he was a lawyer and had a client interested in making an offer for our place.”
“He’s not a lawyer?” Robin asked.
“No, he’s a developer for C&C Investment. It says here he’s preparing to start a large multi-million-dollar project along the Oregon coast that will draw thousands of investors.”
“Sounds like one of those condo time-share scams,” Robin said, looking over the website Kara had pulled up earlier.
“Yeah, except they are looking to bring in large investors, claiming the area is the next ‘it’ zone.” Kara turned away and checked on the cookies. “I’ll call in dinner. Conner should be ready to pick up the food soon.”
“Sure.” Her sister changed gears and looked over the menu for the restaurant and gave her order to her. “So, you and Conner?” she said as she scanned the list.
Kara couldn’t stop the smile. “Yeah, it was very unexpected.”
“But good, right?” Robin asked her as she looked over the iPad.
Kara felt her face heat and her smile double. “Yes, very.”
Her sister sighed and went back to looking at the screen. “He has a brother, right?”
Kara chuckled. “Yes, but something tells me that Jacob is…” She thought about how the man had acted around Rose and chuckled. “Entangled.”
Robin’s eyebrows shot up and then she shrugged. “Probably just as well. I’m more into the intellectual type anyway.”
Kara thought back to all of her sister’s boyfriends and realized that she’d always dated the nerd types. Jacob Jordan was anything but nerdy. He was full brawn mountain man wrapped in a flannel package. As she washed dishes, she thought about Conner and smiled to herself when she realized that Conner was a sexy mixture of mountain man and nerd.
They’d had several conversations that had proven to her that he could hold his own in business. He knew a lot about his family’s businesses, and she knew he’d filled in at both the restaurant and Jordan Shipping.
She believed that it was one of the reasons he’d been undecided as to what field he wanted to go into. He’d been mentally pulled in so many directions and had so many choices that he couldn’t make up his mind. Choosing the Coast Guard had been the easiest route to take. Or at least that’s how it seemed after hearing him talk about it.
After calling down to the Golden Oar and placing their dinner orders, she shot a text off to Conner to let him know that their dinner would be ready soon. He sent a text back almost immediately that he would grab it and be there soon, then he asked how she was feeling.
“Better. Rested,” she replied.
“Good. Sore?” he texted back.
She assessed herself once more and answered.
“No, I think I worked out all the kinks.”
“Good. See you soon,” he sent back.
She busied herself by setting the table and making sure everything was in place.
“Wow.” Robin came out from her bedroom and glanced around. “This place is coming along.” She walked over and hugged her.
“Yes, it is.” She looked around and was happily surprised at how wonderful the small space looked and felt. It was starting to feel more like home. She no longer cared if she went barefoot in the main part of the house, since she’d rolled out several large area rugs that she’d found in the Jordan barn. She had yet to pull up the carpet in her bedroom but had laid a few rugs around so she could feel more comfortable.
By the time Conner arrived with the food, she was starving and tired once more.
“Do I smell chocolate cookies?” Conner asked, walking into the dining room with the bag of containers holding their dinner.
“Yes.” She smiled as she sat down, realizing that her leg was aching again, probably from all the cleaning and baking she’d done.
He turned and frowned down at her. “You’re overexerting yourself.” He reached up and laid a hand on her shoulder. She could see the worry in his eyes.
“I’m fine.” She motioned to the food. “But starving.”
He smiled and then nodded towards Robin as he pulled out the containers of food.
Dinner was nice. It was warming to see that Conner could easily get along with and even joke with her sister. They talked about the land and the possibility of their folks moving there. Then he mentioned that he’d visited his uncle and aunt, who were apparently old friends of their parents.
“We’ve known Megan and Todd for as long as we can remember,” Robin replied. “They’re like our long-lost relatives,” she joked. “At one point, I used to call them aunt and uncle. Then my mother corrected me when I was a teenager.” Her sister laughed suddenly. “I had to do a family tree for school and didn’t know exactly where they fit into our family. The next time we came to Pride, I was embarrassed.” Robin sighed. “And disappointed at the same time.”
“Until I was eight, I believed I had three moms and dads,” Conner joked back. “My cousins were all my brothers and sisters. I was upset when my cousin Suzie was born, and I couldn’t take her home to live with us.” He chuckled.